Nevin James, known around campus as senior Robert Shogry, released his first studio album, “Jealousy,” on iTunes in February. I sat down with James and his girlfriend, New York Fashion Institute graduate Whitney Meyer, to discuss the album and learned a good deal about the singer-songwriter’s process, influences and plans for the future.
Sitting outside the singer’s Malibu beach house rental, James explained the unique recording process behind “Jealousy.” He explained to me over chardonnay and cigarettes that he recorded the album in just two weekends during April 2011 for under $2,000.
In the countdown to finals week, James spent all day and night at the Simi Valley studio, even sleeping there. At the time he was attending a men’s Bible study at Malibu Presbyterian Church that served blueberry pancakes. He gleefully recalls absconding with those pancakes for his breakfasts at the studio, and polishing off the hot cakes each morning with a Blue Moon.
While some of the tracks on the album, like “Where a Thousand Men Have Stood,” had been percolating in James’s mind since 2008, other tracks, like “No Good Without You” were completed just days before recording. On the latter track, James stripped naked and sang the vocals alone in the dark while the band recorded their music in another room. The “band in the other room” included senior Ethan Long who played electric guitar and also assisted in the production of the album with his cousin, and owner of the studio, Aaron Birch. Additionally, Pepperdine alumna and fellow musician Sam Behymer provided backing vocals on many of the album’s tracks.
James’s chief frustrations with “Jealousy” were his own vocals. He doesn’t consider himself a vocalist, but “a piano player who writes songs and tells stories.” Thus, the title track of the album tested his upper range as a singer, and James wishes he had played more piano on the album.
But, when I asked James if he was a singer, writer or pianist first, he answered simply: “God is above all those things to me,” and “First and foremost, I’m a son of God.” He is not interested in being a Christian singer, though, and regrets that Christian music can be a dead-end career. Rather, he is inspired by Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan who he says just told the truth in their songs. When I asked James about the frankly titled last track of his album, “Jesus Christ,” he explained that he was not trying to write a Christian pop song but rather a straightforward song telling the story “about this Jesus.” Further, he argues that “At Night She Cries,” is the most biblical song on the album and the one he is most proud of. James is also quick to add that both “Jesus Christ” and “At Night She Cries” are better live, especially since he was hallucinating from sleep deprivation when he recorded the latter for the album.
Besides drawing from Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie, James lists a daunting number of influences on his website, www.nevinjames.com. He specifically mentioned the influence of the travelling beats of the Grateful Dead and the Band on the first three tracks of his album, but his influences are not limited to the musical realm. James states the variety of his inspiration plainly on his website: “I am influenced by a lot. I live, I see, I experience — I take in as much as I can.” He remarked offhand that one of Humphrey Bogart’s lines in 1954’s “Barefoot Contessa” had struck him just the other day.
From the world of film, both Woody Allen and Randall Wallace inform James’s music. In fact, James has formed a working relationship with Wallace through his screenwriting class here at Pepperdine. He hopes to craft the story of his rock opera, “Death and Victory In Paris” into a feature script even as he edits together footage from touring the opera into a documentary.
But, despite all his extracurricular activities, James is in many ways just another Pepperdine senior, planning to graduate with a degree in creative writing at the end of April. Although his girlfriend has culinary opportunities in Paris, he plans to move with her to New York after graduation. He also looks forward to working more closely with his friend, sound engineer Bob Ludwig on his next album. Ludwig has mastered recordings for Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones and Nirvana, but James is content to record his second album at an old factory or a farm.
James plans to tour “Jealousy” in the Northeast’s tri-state area after he graduates, and then release his second album in early 2013. For now, he is tracking the iTunes sales of “Jealousy” and studying for finals. You can purchase the album on his website, nevinjames.com. He suggests listening to the album on a long drive at night.
